Dixon keen to secure title sooner

The Ganassi driver lost the 2007 championship to Dario Franchitti when he ran out of fuel while leading on the final lap at Chicagoland last weekend.

Dixon had been amongst the points leaders in the first half of the year, then fell 65 points behind Franchitti as the Scot enjoyed a run of success in early summer.

But three consecutive wins for Dixon followed by a string of troubled races for Franchitti - including two massive accidents and a controversial collision with teammate Marco Andretti - meant that the pair arrived at the season finale just three points apart.

Although the last lap fuel shortage proved critical for Dixon, he said he also rued performance inconsistencies that had cost him points earlier in the season.

"We had a lot of second places. Japan and a couple of places like that, we struggled. And we were lucky to even come up with fourth place finishes there," said Dixon.

"Next year we need to work on that and try to make sure we don't press ourselves in this situation, coming into the last race.

"I think you spend most of the season just trying to gain enough points so it doesn't make a difference at the end.

"And we had to do it the other way; we had made enough points to start with and we had to really dig deep in the latter part of the season and try and pull it through."

This was the third final round title decider that Dixon had been involved in. He beat Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr to the 2003 championship at the last race, but lost out in a four-way battle with Hornish, Wheldon and Castroneves in 2006.

He said the addition of road and street courses, plus the fact that the whole field now used identical Dallara-Hondas, made this year's title fight more difficult than his victorious 2003 season had been.

"I think this is tougher now for sure," Dixon said.

"The key things to look at, you've got many different disciplines and road courses, street courses, short ovals, super speedways and in between.

"And on top of that everybody's got the same car, everybody's got the same engine. So I definitely say this is a much tougher championship to win."

He also paid tribute to Franchitti, who came under increasing pressure as rumours about his future increased in the final rounds.

"I think Dario is a great competitor" said Dixon. "To be honest, if anybody could win the championship out there, I'd like to see him win it.

"He's had to deal with a lot of stuff. And he has dealt with it very well. I think he's obviously done a superb job to win a championship and he doesn't let things get to him."